Scottish Executive

Aggregates Tax

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the expected financial impact will be on local authorities of the introduction of the proposed aggregates tax in April 2002 and whether it has made additional monies available to local authorities in its financial allocation for the next two years.

Peter Peacock: The financial impact for individual local authorities will depend on their purchasing policies. It is hoped that the tax will encourage all those who purchase aggregates, including local authorities, to use recycled aggregates and other alternative materials. There is no justification, therefore, for additional provision to be made to local authorities.

Community Care

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how the £100 million announced by the Minister for Health and Community Care on 5 October 2000 to support home caring has been allocated.

Malcolm Chisholm: The new resources announced on 5 October 2000 were: £10 million for hospital discharge annually from 2000-01; £5 million for equipment and adaptations in 2000-01; £12 million for extended disregards and loans for people entering residential care annually from 2002-03; £24 million in 2001-02 rising to £48 million by 2003-04 for home care services and £25 million annually from 2002-03 for free nursing care in care homes.

Crime

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) assaults, (b) robberies and (c) other criminal acts have been committed against visitors to the City of Edinburgh in (i) 1997, (ii) 1998, (iii) 1999 and (iv) 2000.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

Crime

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many offences for shoplifting were recorded in each of the past three years in (a) Scotland and (b) each police force area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is given in the following publications:

  Table 4A, page 21 of the Statistical Bulletin Recorded Crime in Scotland, 1998 published by the Scottish Executive in March 1999, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 16613).

  Table 4A, page 22 of the Statistical Bulletin Recorded Crime in Scotland, 1999 published by the Scottish Executive in April 2000, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 7079).

  Table 4A, page 21 of the Statistical Bulletin Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2000 published by the Scottish Executive in April 2001, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 13119).

Crime

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted of shoplifting in each of the past three years and of those, how many were given (a) a custodial sentence, (b) a fine and (c) a caution or admonishment, in (i) Scotland and (ii) each police force area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the table. Data for the year 2000 are not yet available.

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main offence was shoplifting, by police force area, 1997-99

  


Year and Outcome 
  

Police force area 
  



Central 
  

Dumfries and Galloway 
  

Fife 
  

Grampian 
  

Lothian and BORDERs 
  

Northern 
  

Strathclyde 
  

Tayside 
  

Total 
  





1997 
  



Custody 
  

 53 
  

30 
  

 75 
  

 104 
  

 146 
  

 34 
  

 922 
  

 139 
  

1,503 
  



Fine 
  

 144 
  

38 
  

164 
  

 595 
  

 794 
  

 126 
  

 1,437 
  

 402 
  

3,700 
  



Caution or admonishment 
  

 48 
  

16 
  

 26 
  

 139 
  

 220 
  

 27 
  

 494 
  

 178 
  

1,148 
  



Other 
  

 25 
  

9 
  

 41 
  

 109 
  

 126 
  

 30 
  

 332 
  

 171 
  

 843 
  



Total 
  

 270 
  

93 
  

306 
  

 947 
  

 1,286 
  

 217 
  

 3,185 
  

 890 
  

7,194 
  



1998 
  



Custody 
  

 79 
  

36 
  

 69 
  

 163 
  

 173 
  

 39 
  

 1,006 
  

 118 
  

1,683 
  



Fine 
  

 120 
  

36 
  

215 
  

 669 
  

 758 
  

 127 
  

 1,678 
  

 298 
  

3,901 
  



Caution or admonishment 
  

 37 
  

24 
  

 39 
  

 177 
  

 184 
  

 20 
  

 491 
  

 135 
  

1,107 
  



Other 
  

 21 
  

13 
  

 61 
  

 124 
  

 143 
  

 27 
  

 411 
  

 120 
  

 920 
  



Total 
  

 257 
  

109 
  

384 
  

 1,133 
  

 1,258 
  

 213 
  

 3,586 
  

 671 
  

7,611 
  



1999 
  



Custody 
  

 113 
  

40 
  

 72 
  

 137 
  

 193 
  

 40 
  

 1,270 
  

 126 
  

1,991 
  



Fine 
  

 147 
  

49 
  

266 
  

 433 
  

 658 
  

 121 
  

 1,503 
  

 324 
  

3,501 
  



Caution or admonishment 
  

 43 
  

23 
  

 41 
  

 135 
  

 149 
  

 35 
  

 533 
  

 117 
  

1,076 
  



Other 
  

 88 
  

23 
  

 72 
  

 98 
  

 166 
  

 20 
  

 471 
  

 143 
  

1,081 
  



Total 
  

 391 
  

135 
  

451 
  

 803 
  

 1,166 
  

 216 
  

 3,777 
  

 710 
  

7,649

Crime

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated annual cost was of all crime against business in each of the past three years.

Mr Jim Wallace: There are no regular statistics collected centrally on the costs of crime against businesses. It is therefore not possible to say what the annual cost of crime against businesses has been over the past three years.

  In November 1999, the Scottish Executive did, however, publish the results of research into crime against business. The study looked at manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail, hotels and restaurants and transport and telecommunications. Based on figures provided to the researchers, the cost of crime to Scottish businesses was estimated to have been in the region of £678 million in 1998.

Drug Misuse

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are in place to ensure that no NHS prescription class A drugs are available illegally.

Susan Deacon: The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and regulations made under the Act, provide the basis for preventing misuse of controlled drugs.

  There are measures in place to ensure that controlled drugs are prescribed and dispensed on the NHS in accordance with the statutory requirements. Guidance and advice on the principal legal requirements relating to the prescribing of controlled drugs is contained in the British National Formulary provided free to all doctors and pharmacists.

  If prescribed controlled drugs became available illegally, then this would be a matter for the police.

School Meals

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that caterers providing for schoolchildren have qualifications which include training in the health and nutritional content of food.

Mr Jack McConnell: The provision of the school meals service is a matter for the local authorities, and the Scottish Executive has no role in monitoring the qualifications of those involved in catering for that service. The Model Nutritional Guidelines for Catering Specifications for the Public Sector in Scotland issued in 1996 as part of the Scottish Diet Action Plan contain a number of general principles concerning the qualifications of staff. Amongst these is the suggestion that dieticians should be part of the formal advisory structure in both the preparation and monitoring of specifications; that menus should be analysed by a dietician or nutritionist, and that training of all levels of staff should be delivered by suitably qualified staff such as dieticians.

Vaccines

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether single vaccines and vaccinations administered outwith the UK were included in the recent statistics published by the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency (ISD(s)13) on MMR immunisation uptake rates.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information on MMR vaccination uptake rates to 30 June 2001, published by ISD Scotland, do not include data on single vaccines. They do, however, include information on triple vaccines administered outwith the UK to children who moved to Scotland after being immunised elsewhere.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Information Technology

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether there are any plans to provide an enhanced and accessible out-of-hours IT support service for MSPs.

Sir David Steel: The IT Helpdesk has new extended opening hours for MSPs during sitting days:

  Tuesdays until 19.30

  Wednesdays until 21.30

  Thursdays until 21.30.

  Further information can be found on SPEIR at http://intranet/speir/Temp/bits.htm

  The IT Helpdesk directly resolves most reported problems, such as account lookouts, password problems, email configuration, printer problems, advice on MS Office and Outlook, and remote access guidance.

  Proposals for further extending cover for members beyond these hours to weekends and during recess, and to include other IT support services, are under active consideration and are being assessed against current budgets.

Parliamentary Questions

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer when the written answers search engine will again be fully functional.

Sir David Steel: The written answers database and search engine was added to the redesigned website on 18 June. Towards the end of August, problems were encountered in loading the latest answers into that database. Extensive investigations have shown that this is a complex matter that has needed input from Parliament IT staff and the database product supplier.

  The written answers search engine has been fully functional as from 22 October 2001.